However, to be assured of the lethal effect of the mask, Dio takes to the streets and uses it on a drunken beggar.
The Stone Mask A Letter from the Past Main article: A Letter from the Past (story arc) Main article: The Stone Mask (story arc)ĭio reasons that if he makes Jonathan wear the mask and then activates it with blood, his ensuing death will be written off as a research accident due to his known interest in the artifact. Dio learns from the fight that Jonathan is tougher than he thought after burning Danny in an incinerator as revenge, he decides to bide his time and try to earn Jonathan's trust. Only Dio and Jonathan witness the mask's activation while the former maintains it to be nothing more than a torture instrument, the young Joestar will eventually begin pursuing research in the fields of archaeology and ethnology to discover the history behind the artifact.
A few droplets of Dio's blood fall onto the Stone Mask, causing its spikes to extend and push it off the wall. This final affront makes Jonathan angry enough to openly confront Dio, and gives him the strength to beat him for the first time. When Jonathan finds solace in a relationship with Erina Pendleton, Dio steals her first kiss. Jonathan attempts to befriend Dio, unaware of his plan to break his spirit through constant bullying and earn George's trust so that he can become the sole heir to the Joestar fortune.ĭio Brando the Invader Main article: Dio Brando the Invader (story arc)Īs part of his scheme, Dio torments Jonathan in various ways: he knees his dog Danny in the jaw, violently beats him in a boxing match, and turns all of his friends against him, all the while presenting himself before Jonathan's father as a better gentleman and student than his adoptive brother. George believed that he and his infant son were rescued by Dario during a stagecoach accident in which his wife lost her life in reality, Dario was attempting to loot their corpses. Another young boy from London, Dio Brando, is adopted by them due to his father Dario Brando's death. In 1880, at Liverpool, England, a young Jonathan Joestar (known to his friends as JoJo) peacefully lives at his father George Joestar I's wealthy estate.